Thrashers Owner Says Team Is Committed to Keeping Kovalchuk

The Atlanta Thrashers, currently occupying their familiar spot at the bottom of the NHL's standings, are headed for their ninth non-playoff season in their 10-year existence. The team's best player -- and captain -- Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following next season, while starting netminder Kari Lehtonen is eligible for restricted free agency. Pretty bleak picture.

That said, Thrashers co-owner Bruce Levenson took part in a Q & A session with beat writer Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal Constitution this week, and acknowledges the team has made some big mistakes in the past, but is committed to turning this thing around.

We were worried that in non-traditional hockey markets that it would be a lot harder coming out of the lockout to bring back the fans than it was in traditional hockey markets. We felt the best way to do that was to jump-start the on-ice [performance]. ... We made some deals I'd love to have back. I was a part of those deals, and I was certainly anxious to get us moving in the right direction, probably overly anxious. It did bring us a division championship. It did bring us our first playoffs. But we didn't have the foundation under that. We just didn't have all the right parts there to sustain it.

The key line there is "deals I'd love to have back." Knobler instantly points to the infamous Braydon Coburn for Alexei Zhitnik bloodbath as an example, to which Levenson quickly responds by refusing to name any individual names.

In other words, yes, Coburn for Zhitnik is precisely the type of deal he would love to have back. And for good reason, it was a ridiculous trade from the moment it was ever proposed.

Just two days later, Atlanta made another "win now" move by sending three draft picks (including a first-round pick) and Glen Metropolit to the St. Louis Blues for veteran forward Keith Tkachuk. The Thrashers ultimately qualified for their first, and only, trip to the playoffs, but never won a game, losing four straight to the New York Rangers.

In the case of Kovalchuk, Levenson claims the team is going to do "whatever it takes to keep Ilya here." If they're unable to work out a long-term deal, it could leave the Thrashers in a situation identical to the Marian Hossa mess from a season ago. They attempted to re-sign the star winger, but failed to reach an agreement prior to the trade deadline which resulted in Hossa (and Pascal Dupuis) being shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a first-round pick and some spare parts.

Of course, the one common denominator in all of these moves -- and all of the non-playoff seasons -- is the only general manager in the team's 10-year history: Don Waddell. Levenson admits that in sports every general manager and coach is on a "day-to-day contract," but that he also has a lot of respect for Waddell and a great working relationship with him.

It would obviously be great for the Thrashers, and their fans, if the team worked out a deal to keep the dynamic Kovalchuk in Atlanta, but the best move that could possibly happen for the long-term success of the team on the ice is a fresh start in the front office.